--- description: After the FBI announced that two brothers from southern Russia had bombed the Boston Marathon, the world's attention quickly turned to where these brothers had come from — a lush strip of highlands called Dagestan. Photographer Dmitry Kostyukov reports from the Russian republic. title: What Tsarnaev Saw: Dagestan by Dmitry Kostyukov image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt78d5ab4c1d2cb33f/6987a552a988ca054b6af076/us-rus-bombing-tsarnaev-kostyukov14.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) ## LightBox Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # What Tsarnaev Saw: Dagestan by Dmitry Kostyukov  by [Simon Shuster](/author/simon-shuster/)  ## Simon Shuster Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent May 16, 2013 12:17 PM CUT  The following photographs were taken between May 12-15, 2013\. A man arrives at the village mosque in Utamysh, the home of Russian-born Canadian William Plotnikov, who was killed in a shootout with Russian counterterrorism forces in July 2012. The following photographs were taken between May 12-15, 2013\. A man arrives at the village mosque in Utamysh, the home of Russian-born Canadian William Plotnikov, who was killed in a shootout with Russian counterterrorism forces in July 2012.Dmitry Kostyukov for TIME  by [Simon Shuster](/author/simon-shuster/)  ## Simon Shuster Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent May 16, 2013 12:17 PM CUT On April 19, when the FBI announced that two brothers from southern Russia had bombed the Boston Marathon, the world’s attention quickly turned to where these brothers had come from — a lush strip of highlands called Dagestan, which stretches along the western shore of the Caspian Sea. The elder of the two suspected bombers, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, had spent half of last year in this region of Russia, visiting his parents and reconnecting with his relatives. He also spent a lot of time hanging out with local adherents of Salafism, the fundamentalist brand of Islam that Tsarnaev also seems to have embraced. Since the bombings in Boston, TIME has spent three weeks in Dagestan trying to learn what, if anything, the region’s Islamists had to do with Tsarnaev’s radicalization (to read the article, which is available to subscribers, [click here](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2143575,00.html "undefined")). The search wound through nearly a dozen cities, towns and villages in Dagestan, along the rutted roads of the Caucasus mountains and into the neighboring region of Chechnya. It went inside the local Salafi mosques and the homes and neighborhoods of their congregants. What emerged was the image of a region trapped in a spiral of violence, one perpetuated as much by local security services as by the militants they hunt. The region’s insurgency and counterinsurgency have killed thousands of people over the last decade and shaped the lives of many more. They also shaped the ideas of jihad that Tsarnaev brought with him to Dagestan last year, as well as the beliefs that he apparently took back to Boston. --- [**_Simon Shuster_**](http://world.time.com/author/simonshuster/ "undefined") _is TIME’s Moscow reporter. Follow him on Twitter_ [_@shustry_](http://www.twitter.com/shustry "undefined")_._ [**_Dmitry Kostyukov_**](http://kostyukov.com/ "undefined")_is a freelance photographer based in_ _Moscow. Kostyukov previously covered conflict in Georgia, Afghanistan and Israel for AFP._ ---  The following photographs were taken between May 12-15, 2013\. A man arrives at the village mosque in Utamysh, the home of Russian-born Canadian William Plotnikov, who was killed in a shootout with Russian counterterrorism forces in July 2012. Dmitry Kostyukov for TIME  People pray inside the mosque in Utamysh. Dmitry Kostyukov for TIME  Youth train in one of the boxing and wrestling schools in the regional capital of Makhachkala. Dmitry Kostyukov for TIME  A boy exercises in front of a house where a famous Islamist was killed in Makhachkala. Dmitry Kostyukov for TIME  A grave above the sleepy village of Utamysh. Dmitry Kostyukov for TIME  The Caspian Sea, outside of Makhachkala. Dmitry Kostyukov for TIME  Worshippers at a Makhachkala mosque. Dmitry Kostyukov for TIME  The farm where Plotnikov was killed near the village of Utamysh. Dmitry Kostyukov for TIME  Sheep herders on the road from Kizlyar to Makhachkala. Dmitry Kostyukov for TIME  The grave of William Plotnikov, who was killed in a shootout with Russian counterterrorism forces in July 2012. Dmitry Kostyukov for TIME  Young boys perform parkour on the beach in Makhachkala. Dmitry Kostyukov for TIME  A fish market in Makhachkala. Dmitry Kostyukov for TIME  A house where accused Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev lived with his father in Makhachkala. Dmitry Kostyukov for TIME  The mother of the two Boston bombing suspects, Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, walks near the Caspian Sea. 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